


an exercise in trust

by tellmewhatyousee



Series: AceLaw Week Mini Prompts [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, M/M, No Sex, Rope Bondage, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:08:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28345161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tellmewhatyousee/pseuds/tellmewhatyousee
Summary: “What is that?”Ace looked down at the red rope coiled in his hands. “Uh… rope?”Prompt #3: trust.
Relationships: Portgas D. Ace/Trafalgar D. Water Law
Series: AceLaw Week Mini Prompts [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2047022
Comments: 11
Kudos: 19
Collections: AceLaw Mini Prompts





	an exercise in trust

“What is that?”

Ace looked down at the red rope coiled in his hands. “Uh… rope?”

“I know _that.”_ Law rolled his eyes. “Why was it under the bed?”

“I told you, it’s a trust exercise,” Ace said as he walked closer. He was a couple inches shorter than Law, so he had to tilt his head up to look him in the eye. “Do you trust me?”

Law narrowed his eyes. When Ace said he had a ‘trust exercise’ in mind, he expected some team-building bullshit. Not whatever sort of weird bondage act Ace was trying to initiate. “We both know that’s a very complicated question,” Law said. “What are you planning to do here?”

Ace smiled. “Well, that’s part of the whole _trust_ thing, isn’t it?” He leaned forward to give Law a peck on the lips. “You can stop me at any point, okay? I don’t want to do anything you don’t like.”

Law certainly didn’t like whatever the hell was going on right now, but he nodded anyway. He could at least humor Ace for a few minutes.

“Good,” Ace replied. “Will you take off your shirt?”

Law tensed up. “Why?”

“Because I think you’re hot, and I like it when you take your clothes off,” Ace said with a grin. At least he was honest. “You don’t _have_ to, but… y’know, it helps with the exercise.”

Law breathed out a sigh, but pulled his shirt over his head nonetheless. “You did your research before this, right?” he asked. “Do we have scissors nearby?”

“Right over there,” Ace said, pointing to a pair of bandage scissors on the nightstand. Law wasn’t sure how he hadn’t noticed them before. “Do you wanna sit or stand?”

Law folded his shirt neatly before he set it down on the bed behind him. “I’ll stand for now,” he said.

“That’s fine,” Ace replied. “Easier for me to get around you this way.” He gave Law a kiss on the cheek before he started uncoiling the rope.

Law watched Ace like a hawk as he looped the rope around his lower ribcage. “How did you learn how to do this, exactly?” he asked.

Ace shrugged. “The internet,” he said. “I’ve practiced on myself, don’t worry. You just tell me if something’s too tight, and I can adjust, okay?”

Law nodded. While he wasn’t exactly confident in Ace’s abilities— this was the first he’d heard of Ace learning anything like this, after all— he knew there were measures in place to keep him safe. If he asked Ace to untie him, he would. No one would get hurt.

Ace wrapped his arms around Law to loop the rope around a second time. “Deep breath,” he instructed, and Law obeyed without a second thought. “Too tight?”

“It’s fine,” Law replied. It was, in fact, much looser than he’d expected, but he had a feeling Ace did that on purpose. The close proximity was helping, too— he could feel Ace’s breath on his shoulder, his lips occasionally grazing Law’s skin while he tied a knot on his back.

Soon enough, Ace pulled away, tugging the ends of the rope over Law’s shoulders. He looped both ends under the rope against Law’s ribcage, creating a V shape that ran parallel to the heart tattoo on his chest. One hand held the ends of the rope, and the other rested on Law’s chest.

“Doing alright?” Ace asked, finally pulling his gaze away from Law’s chest to look him in the eye. Law nodded, and Ace took that as a chance to press further. “Can I tie your wrists? I could wrap them up front or behind your back, it’s up to you.”

Law raised an eyebrow. If Ace had initially suggested restricting the use of his hands, Law would have probably said no. But now that he had a better idea of what Ace was doing, and saw how careful he was, he felt a little more secure about the whole thing. “Up front, please,” he answered.

“You got it,” Ace replied with a grin. He gave Law another peck on the cheek before he looked back down at the ropes. “Cross your wrists, please?”

Law glanced down and crossed his right wrist over his left. “Like that?”

“Just like that, yeah.” Ace pulled the ends of the rope out to wrap around Law’s arms, keeping his biceps bound to his sides. He took his time looping the rope further down each of Law’s arms, creating small knots all the way down to keep it all in place. When he finally got to Law’s wrists, he adjusted their position slightly before he started binding them together.

“Remember to let me know if it’s too tight,” he said, “If you feel any numbness, or tingling, or—”

“I’m a doctor, Ace,” Law interjected. “I know the signs of poor circulation.”

Ace looked at Law from under his lashes, a sheepish little smile on his face. “Alright, Dr. Trafalgar, I trust your judgement,” he said. He tied a knot to finish it off before he slipped two fingers under the rope to make sure Law had enough wiggle room. “Does this feel alright?”

Law tugged at his restraints a little, and that was when the situation really started to sink in. He was absolutely defenseless. He couldn’t even lift his arms. If it really came down to it, he could give Ace a swift kick to the side, but he wasn’t that flexible. 

And yet, somehow, he felt completely relaxed.

“Feels fine,” he answered. “You did a very nice job.”

“I did, didn’t I?” Ace asked. He stepped back to admire his handiwork before he gave Law a gentle kiss. It lasted a few seconds longer than the previous one, and when he pulled back, he was blushing. “Think we can… get a little frisky like this sometime?” he asked.

Law raised an eyebrow. He would’ve liked to try to hide the blush that mirrored Ace’s, but with how close Ace was, that was pretty much impossible. “I’ll… consider it,” he said. “We can talk about it.”

“Sounds good,” Ace replied, and gave Law a peck on the nose. “Hey, can I take a picture of you like this—”

“No.”

“You sure? I promise it’s just for me.”

Law shook his head. His trust only went so far. “Not after the time you accidentally sent your brother a shirtless picture of me, no.”

Ace snickered. “Okay, yeah, that’s… fair,” he said before he stepped back. “Lemme just… look at you for a little longer, then. Commit it to memory.”

Law breathed out a sigh. At least he was comfortable.


End file.
